Appleton North girls finish second, boys fourth at FVA Cross Country Meet
AppletonSportsPage.com
KAUKAUNA – Appleton North sophomore Eva Busch finished less than one second out of first to earn runner-up honors in the girls race at the 2025 Fox Valley Association Cross Country Meet on Thursday at Countryside Golf Course.
Neenah freshman Sam Zilm finished the 5-kilometer race in 17:40.5, 7/10th of a second ahead of Busch to win the FVA individual title.
Neenah won the girls team title as well as five Rockets finished in the top-10. Appleton North was second, Appleton East seventh and Appleton West 10th.
Ava Helmbrecht added a fifth-place finish for the Lightning, running in 18:29.3, and two other North runners earned top-20 finishes as Sophia Scherwinski was 17th (19:27.1) and Amber Ziemer took 18th (19:41.9).
Marlo Seefeldt finished 43rd in 20:48.3 to lead Appleton West, and Appleton East’s top girls runner was Evie Eidemiller took 45h in 21:00.6.
Kimbelry won the boys team title with Neenah second, Appleton North fourth, Appleton East eighth and Appleton West 10th.
Neenah’s Zach Verhagen was the individual boys champion, running the 5K in 15:57.9, four seconds in front of Oshkosh West’s Carter Crowe.
Louie Mandich took 10th in 16:31.2 to give Appleton East a top-10 finisher.
Appleton North’s top six runners all finished between 18th and 26th place. Marek Danelski took 18th in 16:53.9, Spencer Gremban was 19th in 16:57.9 and Braden Waters was 20th in 17:00.1 to lead the Lightning.
Appleton West’s top runner was Kegan Phalin, who placed 27th in 17:19.1.
Appleton West will compete at a WIAA Division 1 sectional at Standing Rocks Park in Stevens Point, while Appleton North and Appleton East will be at a D-1 sectional at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday, Oct. 25.
2025 Fox Valley Association Cross Country Meet
Oct. 16, at Countryside Golf Course, Kaukauna
Boys
Team scores: 1. Kimberly 58; 2. Neenah 83; 3. Kaukauna 103; 4. Appleton North 104; 5. Hortonville 112; 6. Oshkosh West 125; 7. Fond du Lac 208; 8. Appleton East 212; 9. Oshkosh North 221; 10. Appleton West 252.
Top 10, and Appleton East, Appleton North and Appleton West finishers: 1. Zach Verhagen (NE) 15:57.9; 2. Carter Crowe (OW) 16:01.8; 3. Gavin Salzmann (KIM) 16:06.0; 4. Jonny Golke (FDL) 16:06.4; 5. Cade Mansfield (HOR) 16:08.6; 6. Dominic Moore (OW) 16:18.7; 7. Turner Behm (KIM) 16:24.9; 8. Graham Piette (KIM) 16:25.7; 9. Bennett Scherrer (KAU) 16:27.9; 10. Louie Mandich (AE) 16:31.2; 18. Marek Danelski (AN) 16:53.9; 19. Spencer Gremban (AN) 16:57.9; 20. Braden Waters (AN) 17:00.1; 22. Lukas Nahm (AN) 17:01.5; 25. Jacob McGinn (AN) 17:16.6; 26. Aiden Sanders (AN) 17:17.8; 27. Kegan Phalin (AW) 17:19.1; 36. Charles Williams (AN) 17:43.8; 45. Roan Hesselman (AW) 18:05.7; 48. Graham Campbell (AE) 18:21.8; 49. Auden Winkel (AE) 18:34.3; 51. Liam Krainik (AE) 18:46.8; 54. Xander Schiltz (AE) 18:54.7; 55. Zachary Gaschler (AE) 18:58.3; 56. Alex Beck (AE) 19:03.8; 59. Bauer Seefeldt (AW) 19:38.8; 60. Elijah Keller (AW) 19:38.9; 61. Bryant Fowle (AW) 19:41.8; 62. Dorian Skaleski (AW) 19:43.1; 67. Charles Johnston (AW) 20:46.5.
Girls
Team scores: 1. Neenah 32; 2. Appleton North 70; 3. Hortonville 82; 4. Kimberly 98; 5. Oshkosh West 112; 6. Kaukauna 159; 7. Appleton East 230; 8. Fond du Lac 240; 9. Oshkosh North 252; 10. Appleton West 276.
Top 10, and Appleton East, Appleton North and Appleton West finishers: 1. Sam Zilm (NE) 17:40.5; 2. Eva Busch (AN) 17:41.2; 3. Hannah Huza (HOR) 18:22.9; 4. Elie Volheim (KIM) 18:26.6; 5. Ava Helmbrecht (AN) 18:29.3; 6. Elsa Gruber (NE) 18:35.3; 7. Izzy Malloy (NE) 18:43.4; 8. Natalie Schultz (NE) 18:49.6; 9. Abby Tercha (OW) 18:53.3; 10. Elsa Weiland (NE) 18:58.2; 17. Sophia Scherwinski (AN) 19:27.1; 18. Amber Ziemer (AN) 19:41.9; 28. Audry Dehlinger (AN) 20:08.9; 40. Addy Campbell (AN) 20:43.5; 43. Marlo Seefeldt (AW) 20:48.3; 44. Audra Roe (AN) 20:59.9; 45. Evie Eidemiller (AE) 21:00.6; 48. Caroline Breed (AW) 21:14.6; 52. Olive Crownhart (AE) 21:42.7; 56. Molly Peterson (AE) 21:58.1; 57. Elizabeth Clark (AW) 22:17.7; 60. Kayden Smit (AW) 22:34.5; 61. Anika Pretasky (AE) 22:39.9; 63. Zoe Benz (AE) 23:15.0; 66. Madelynn Schweitzer (AE) 23:57.6; 68. Chloe Zwicker (AW) 25:37.1.